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So I'm slowly moving to a smart home - Nest smoke alarms / CCTV / Nest Thermostat etc. Sonos is all the rooms and really enjoy the benefits they all bring!

I decided to get some philips hue lights in the lounge and thought they'd also be a nice feature but I'm currently struggling to see the benefit of them at present. I've only downloaded the basic hue app at present but it seems a faff to unlock my phone - open the app and switch the lights on when I go downstairs in the morning.

I've had a play with some of the pre set light settings which are OK for playing around with but not something I want to use in general.

I've yet to use the 'holiday' feature but think that'll be a great addition once on holiday to make it look like someones home!

Am I missing something - I'm currently looking at buying one of the sensors to trigger the lights in the lounge - certainly not convinced at present on spending £500 to change the lights in the kitchen/diner to the hue bulbs.

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It really comes into its own with things like the motion sensor, although this is only really useful in rooms or spaces where people are not for very long, like hallways, kitchens, bathrooms etc. Combine that with the routines (sunrise/sunset etc) and you can have lights on a low level scene, then you enter the room and the lights come up. After you've left and a certain time has elapsed, they can return to the state they were (formulas like 'three times is a charm' really adds value here). Not to mention the motion sensor's light sensor. In our en-suite which has no windows, I've it set to maximum, so the light always comes on no matter how bright it is. In the hallway, kitchen etc, the lights only come on if its gloomy or night.

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I’m with you on your first paragraph - I’ve got all the same things and enjoy them (well apart from the smoke detector).

Hue has been a gradual investment that has taken some time to convince some members of the household, including me tbh.

The thing that liberates them from being a faff (opening an app etc.) are the sensors (especially the motion sensor that works like a dream), and Alexa.

In fact Alexa has been the major revelation in the whole automated home thing, and unifies the whole experience.

In our house the two bathrooms, kitchen, living room and a particularly dark part of the hallway all light up automatically with the sensor (and at night a dim nightlight comes on) and are a joy to live with, and Alexa lights up the rest of the house on command (including Belkin Wemos for some other lights).

The automated alarms means that the house wakes up automatically (lights coming on gradually), Sonos firing up etc, room by room. Even the bloomin’ kettle responds to Alexa.

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For me there are lots of benefits.
The ability to walk round the house with lights either automatically turning on as I enter rooms (WC, bathroom, shower room and hallways) or just having to say “Alexa turn on the lights” for pretty much all the other rooms is great - really good when you have kids that may get up in the night too.
Having the lights set to come on in the main living area as I return home is handy when holding a 10 month old in one hand, groceries in the other and using a foot to usher in a 5 year old with altogether too much energy.

On top of that there is the ability to have the lights go through routines while away to make it look as though someone is home, and the fact that lights are no longer on/off/dimmed but can be warm, cool, daylight, or coloured completely changes the way lighting is used in the house.

I can now control single spotlights in a room so that when I come down to make coffee, bleary-eyed at 5:30am i can ask Alexa just to turn on the single spotlight needed rather than being blinded.

Of course, you can also link them with the Nest smoke alarm so that the lights turn red etc if carbon monoxide is detected

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I can now control single spotlights in a room so that when I come down to make coffee, bleary-eyed at 5:30am i can ask Alexa just to turn on the single spotlight needed rather than being blinded.

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Or setup a suitable routine to simulate sunrise at the right time so your arnt so bleary eyed

Since adding a load of hue lights one of the things I like most is being able to setup up routines for natural lighting transitions with natural colour temperatures which are helping us both sleep better and much more consistently and feel a lot more energised on dark winter mornings etc.
To get the full effect you do need sufficient lights in a room to get that summer sun wake up effect. It doesn't take that many, but one or two doesn't cut it as I think you need a bright ambiance rather than just a couple of bright spots.

All the hue light we currently have are color as well - this doesn't mean the place is bathed in weird colors all the time, but it is really nice to get very cosy fire-glow type colors (ie natural black body yellows, oranges reds etc) in late evening that are beyond to capabilities of lowest colour temp of the white lights which I find tend to help getting to sleep in time to get a decent amount of sleep.

They are good with smartthings sensors (motion, window/door sensors etc) as well if you have a smartthings hub.

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Add some motion sensors and a google home/amazon echo for voice control and things really start to get interesting. I thought the same as you to begin with but I can honestly say that I have not touched a light switch (in my house) for nearly 6 months, everything is automated by motion or voice if necessary. Then if you have a harmony remote you can set activities to have different lighting etc. all controlled by the remote/voice.

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If you're buying the echo plus specifically so it can control Hue directly make sure you research first. As it stands the plus will control them but they are so much better using a Philips bridge IMO, the plus part of the echo seems a bit half arsed.

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If you're buying the echo plus specifically so it can control Hue directly make sure you research first. As it stands the plus will control them but they are so much better using a Philips bridge IMO, the plus part of the echo seems a bit half arsed.

So if I got a Philips bridge and an Echo/Dot, could the Echo/Dot give me full access to everything the bridge can do, via Alexa voice control? Or would I need to use the Philips app on my iPhone to access all the features?

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Ahh didn’t know that, although I don’t have a nest boiler and carbon monoxide isn’t likely to appear in such quantities that I couldn’t just do that myself.

I read it will send me a notification that there’s smoke but not sure how much help that would be. Would I feel that was enough to phone the fire brigade whilst I’m several miles away. Dunno, not convinced it’s worty the cost.

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It depends, certain extension works will legally require mains powered, interlinked smoke alarms to comply with building regs.
Compared to either the cost of wiring in suitable interlinked alarms or fitting wireless linked alarms then the nest at 100 a pop doesn't seem that expensive, don't forget its also a carbon monoxide alarm as well. While not necessarily life changing the extra features are genuinely useful, like the pathway lighting with a PIR sensor, notification of type of alarm and location and remote muting of false alarms using the app. Shutting off the boiler when there's a CO alarm sounds like a bloody good idea too if you've got the thermostat.

The first time you set the alarm off by burning your toast and use your phone to mute the alarm you'll love it

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I have 3 nest protects wired into our town house and have found them great over the last few years, especially the pathway lighting, we have a 2 1/2 Year old and a 1 month old so getting up in the night for bottle feeding or carrying a crying girl down both floors at night with each light coming on in a nice sequence is very satisfying whilst being easy on the eyes at 03.00!

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I started putting Hue stuff in last year, like you I wasn't 100% sure about it (since I generally find the multicoloured setups a bit garish). However, since I also got an Amazon 'Dot' last Christmas, I have been able to integrate my lighting with Alexa, for voice commands. I have also configured the Hue app to bring certain lights on at sunset (porch light for example), so I don't have to keep re-programming the on time as the nights draw out/in.

Since I already have a Harmony remote, I was also able to set it up so that if I run an activity after sunset (such as 'Watch TV'), then certain lights come on a predetermined level and (warm white) colour. When I turn off the activity then the lights fade out. If we use the 'watch a film on the projector' activity, then all the overhead lights turn off and the strip lights turn red (like cinema exit lighting ). Of course once I start the film I turn them off completely, but it's a nice touch while we settle down, pour the drinks and run the trailers.

I have the Hue app on my iPhone and don't have to unlock it to access the 'widget', just a left swip and I have a few favourite 'scenes' already set.

I certainly could live without it, but it's been a nice addition to the room and IMHO helps finish it off: Only last week my OH decided that it might look nice having a Hue strip light above each curtain, so she paid for two Hue strips and one extension too...bonus.

I'm quite pleased with the effect:

Probably looks a bit different from the time you picked up my old AV9.

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Fitted 8 kitchen gu10 today along with a sensor. Also fitted porch light on sunset timer. Love the sensor controlling the kitchen lights, so much so that so far I’ve left the dimmer switch in the box. Porch light is on timer but Alexa lets me turn it off if I’m watching a film and I don’t want excess light getting through the blinds (yes I’m that anal).

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I have 3 dimmers (kitchen, lounge and bedroom) and the only time they tend to get used now is when Alexa tells me that “Philips Hue is not responding”. The more I add to the house, the less the dimmers seem to be required.

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We were only supposed to go for a quick Byron burger as we are busy with other things, yet my family has so bought into this; came out of John Lewis with a further 12 bulbs

And yes when all setup properly there is no need for switches...Saying that yesterday I had some router problems and the bridge didn't work after I swapped my router. Didn't notice that until the even so the command to switch all lights of around the home from our bedroom didn't work...I couldn't be bothered to diagnose the issue, so it was handy we still had the dimmers as it allowed us manual override....

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I have 3 dimmers (kitchen, lounge and bedroom) and the only time they tend to get used now is when Alexa tells me that “Philips Hue is not responding”. The more I add to the house, the less the dimmers seem to be required.

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LOL Snap I just posted the same...It happened yesterday for us, my own fault as I forgot to reset one devices following some network changes...